Original Cast Album: Company

It's impressive to watch a gaggle of Broadway's best, at almost the exact moment the clock moved from the 1960s into the '70s, take their places in a featureless recording studio to make history. The original cast, the orchestra players, the sound engineers, composer Stephen Sondheim, and session producer Thomas Shepard demonstrate more than great talent and love for what they're doing. They give a master class in how to listen, how to give and take direction, how to hit the creators' target. Near the end, when Ms. Stritch belts out a solo for the ages at 3 a.m., the producer criticizes her delivery, and I wanted to smack him! But I'm not a theater person, unlike the phenomenal troupers who kept soaking up instructions and doing more, more, more takes till everyone was happy. They did it right.

If you own any original cast recording of a Broadway musical, I recommend this behind-the-scenes look at how one OCR was made.

I memorized this soundtrack and could sing along with every song before I ever saw the play. In the many years since, I try to see this production whenever it appears...such a fun Sondheim musical. Nobobdy will ever compare to Elaine Strich's vocals on the album as a jaded, oft married, oft divorced friend of Bobby's. She is wonderful. Another great number is "Barcelona", when Bobby beds numerous airline stewardesses... very clever. Listen and enjoy!

Here's a great documentary to remind us that real music is performed by real people and not computers. Not only do we get to see the vocalists recording their tracks, but we get to see various sections of the full orchestra as they play their parts, including warmups and practicing "licks." Stephen Sondheim's coaching of the singers is so wonderful to watch - he understands actors and artists in a way that corporate producers/execs do not. If you love musicals--and want an uplifting experience to re-affirm your love--WATCH THIS!!

This was apparently the pilot for a documentary series on cast recordings, and it's a shame it didn't come to fruition, because it's really quite good.

I was not familiar with Sondheim beyond a handful of songs that you just hear everywhere (like Send in the Clowns) and even though this is just a few songs from the musical, it was a revelation, particularly Barcelona and Ladies Who Lunch. I'm sure the full production was excellent, but these talented people singing these brilliant songs into their microphones was wonderful as well.

The most fascinating part is the final section, in which Elaine Stritch gives a powerful performance of Lunch that was not, apparently, good enough for the album. It's a great example of the difference between a live performance and a recorded one; as a live performance it was incredible, but it drove her mad.

Well worth watching.

This documentary is done after the Broadway premiere of the original production of the musical, "Company," by Stephen Sondheim and directed by Harold Prince. Anyway if you've listened to the soundtrack or have seen a stage production, you will find this behind the scenes at the recording studio where they belt out the numbers from the production to be quite interesting. You can't help but love and admire Elaine Stritch who is a Broadway veteran and legend. She may not have the best voice but her "Ladies That Lunch" is memorable and a battle at the studio. You can't help but like Elaine, Stephen, Harold or Hal, and even Howard Furth who wrote the book. They and the other cast members which included Beth Howland (before TV's Alice as Vera) and her partner/husband Charles Kimbrough (long before TV's Murphy Brown as Jim Dial) along with other cast members like veteran stage actress Donna McKechnie. They all do a fabulous job in displaying why people pay to see them perform when it was more affordable as it is now. Sometimes, a good musical doesn't have to wow you as much or have special effects. Sometimes, reality can make a pretty good show.